Joey Barton has claimed he is willing to go to prison 'in the name of free speech' after the Attorney General's office said it has been made aware of a series of robust observations on Twitter over the John Terry racism saga. 

Following the stripping of the England captaincy from Terry, Barton took to the micro-blogging website to give his take on the matter.  

The Chelsea skipper had his country's armband taken from him for a second time in the wake of an allegation of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand during a match at QPR last year.

Opposite sides: John Terry (left) and Joey Barton (right)

Terry, who denies the charge, will stand trial in July, just a matter of days after Euro 2012 finishes.

Barton, who was playing in the match at Loftus Road in October, has defended his comments on the grounds of free speech.  

However a spokesman for the Attorney General's office said: 'I can confirm the Tweets have been brought to our attention and have been viewed.'

At reading the possible punishment on Sunday morning, Barton tweeted: 'I will gladly go to jail for a month, in the name of free speech. I have no problem with what I said. Make me a martyr.......

'What are they going to do put everyone who exercises freedom of speech in jail? They'll be a revolution, if they try that s***.'

Dominic Grieve QC is the current Attorney General.

He is the Government's senior law officer and part of his remit is to make sure people facing criminal allegations receive a fair trial.